


Keeper of the Heart

by ancient_moonshine



Category: W.I.T.C.H., 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Genre: Age Difference, Bad Flirting, December/Mayfly Romance, Explanation/Definitions in the Author's Notes, Extremely Flustered Shen Wei, Impassioned Declarations of Love, Love Confessions, No need to know the source material, Shameless Zhao Yunlan, Time Travel, Young Love, magical girl au, you read that right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:35:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26699116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancient_moonshine/pseuds/ancient_moonshine
Summary: Zhao Yunlan is the 19-year old leader of the Guardians of the Veil. Shen Wei is the Oracle, his boss,  and a good ten thousand years older than him and the rest of his species. Is he gonna let that stop him and his terrible flirting? Absolutely not.
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yun Lan
Comments: 31
Kudos: 115





	Keeper of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Basic premise of W.I.T.C.H.: Five teenage girls are chosen by the Oracle of Kandrakar as the Chosen Ones to protect Earth from the threat posed by the planet Meridian/Metamoor, which is basically ruled by an Asshole Prince who usurped the throne from his parents and younger sister [the actual heir to the throne]. Four girls' powers correspond to one element each, and the leader is the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, basically the gemstone that's the source of their powers/allows them to transform [also the leader's powers are basically energy manipulation]. The series ran foraround five years, with five story arcs, but I only got to half of the third before I gave up following it in consecutive order. [FYI Nerissa arc is best arc, I still really hate Caleb for what he did to Cornelia, and Orube/Cedric is the best ship in the whole series FITE ME] 
> 
> Please enjoy Zhao Yunlan's terrible, no-good, shameless self. Shen Wei Is Not.
> 
> P.S.: Astral drops are basically clones that the W.I.T.C.H. characters used to use as doubles to live their daily lives for them while the originals go save the world. In this AU, Zhang Shi is ZYL's astral drop.

One moment you’re getting shit-faced in preparation for your freshman year of college, the next you and your closest friends (and the gormless new boy, and your weirdo classmate who turns out to be a literal _alien._ ) have been chosen to save not one, but _two_ worlds. Yunlan curses when when a Whisperer manages to wrap a vine around his ankle, blasts it with a faceful of raw energy.

The Whisperer _screams,_ a bone-chilling sound that has the Guardians flinching, but even with its face charred-off it resumes dragging Yunlan down the alley to the portal at the end of it.

“Hong-jie, a little help here!” Zhu Hong grunts, and the cracks in the alley’s cobblestones erupt in a network of green roots, which Yunlan manages to grasp just before he’s dragged completely in. Above, Guo Changcheng is shrieking in terror as he’s being chased in the air by a flying lizard-creature, aiming lightning bolts willy-nilly and almost hitting Chu Shuzi, doing battle with his own Whisperer, who he manages to get tangled in his energy cords. Chu Shuzi yells at Xiao Guo, and Wang Zheng gracefully encapsulates the stray bolts with a rush of water before sending them right into the creature chasing Guo Changcheng. And then two fireballs from Li Qian torches the remaining Whisperers to ash.

And then the battle is over, just like that. Guo Changcheng drops from the air gracelessly, wings quivering, Yunlan sighs and hauls himself up, kicking off the ashen pieces of vine still clinging to him and holding out both his hands. The rest of the team echo the motion.

The heart of Kandrakar glows with its signature pink energy, and the whirling maelstrom of energy unspools, disappears. Yunlan sighs, braces his hands over his knees. Wang Zheng dusts off her _ruqun,_ and Zhu Hong fixes her hair. Chu Shuzi wordlessly helps Xiao Guo up, and Li Qian gulps and averts her gaze from the remnants of ashes surrounding them. Yunlan, who’s standing closest to her, nudges her with an elbow.

“You all right? Great job saving us.” She gives him a tight smile, but relaxes.

“Third portal down. Congrats, guys!” Yunlan grins, mopping his face with the sleeve of the long teal hanfu of what was apparently his Magical Girl Uniform– whoever designed this obviously did it for the Period Drama Aesthetic and not for practicality, weird flightless insect-wings and stupidly impractical hairstyles included. Yunlan would hack off the weird length his hair would get whenever he transformed, but he’s terrified his normal self will wind up bald as a result. “Want to go to the club to celebrate?”

“We have midterms tomorrow.” Zhu Hong reminds him, waspish. The others groan, but Yunlan is undeterred.

“After, then! It’s not everyday you get to save the world!” That gets him a grudging smile, even from her, and hey, everyone’s banged-up and they’re probably screwed since they have to take an eight a.m. exam tomorrow, but honestly, getting to be Sailor Moon on your downtime? _Worth it._

(At least until Mama sees his first sem grades and winds up chasing him all over the house with a coathanger.)

* * *

The fortress of Kandrakar hangs suspended in the middle of eternity, a bastion of calm in the fraught ocean of the universe. Da Qing had told them enough about it in preparation for their first visit, but nothing could have prepared them for its sheer scale. _Jedi Temple,_ Yunlan’s mind had gleefully supplied the first time he and the others had gawped at it in awe.

And then Da Qing took them aside for a good twenty minutes and ran them through a list of rules. Most especially, what to say when they met the Oracle.

“The Oracle is the head of the Council of Kandrakar. He’s seen the dawn of _your_ species, has powers you lot can only dream about.” Da Qing’s perched on a crystal dais with a cushion, rather like a glorified cat tree, Lao Chu standing beside him like a hulking bodyguard– which, given that he’d trained here as a kid before being assigned to earth to give the new Guardians a crash course on _what the hell was going on_ , explained a lot about him. It shows how utterly fried Yunlan’s nerves have become that the fact that his vain and obese pet from childhood is apparently some sort of eldritch/Master Obi-Wan Kenobi-type entity and he’s just. Learned to roll with it.

“You gotta treat him with _respect_.” Da Qing emphasizes, and makes sure to scowl in Yunlan’s direction. “So don’t any of you give him any lip, especially you, Yunlan.”

“I take offense at how you’re needlessly singling me out.“ He whines, and Lao Chu snorts.

“It’s warranted.” He mutters. Yunlan glares at him, betrayed. Yeah, his mouth has gotten him in trouble more than a couple of times in Meridian, but that was in front of their fascist dirtbag of a Prince! The guy was just _begging_ for someone to interrupt his James Bond Villain monologue. Anyhows Yunlan’s the Keeper the Heart of Kandrakar, leader of the Guardians of the Veil, he can behave himself in front of their version of Master Yoda.

And then the Oracle arrives, and Da Qing’s whole lecture flies out of Yunlan’s ears when the most beautiful young man he’s ever seen enters the hall, not a single strand of grey in his dark, back-length hair, and at the sheer perfection of his face- Yunlan can’t help it: his jaw drops.

“Hello, Great Beauty.” He says without thinking, which gets him a wallop from Da Qing and acutely horrified secondhand embarrassment from everyone else. The Oracle colors, and _oh shit,_ he’s staring right at Yunlan. And Yunlan prepares to be thrown off of Kandrakar’s battlements, or at least demoted as leader, god that’s gonna be embarrassing, Da Qing would never let him live it down - But the Oracle just. Keeps staring at him with shocked, liquorice-dark eyes. And the longer the silence goes on, the longer the Oracle keeps _staring_ at him, and vice-versa… Well. Yunlan can hardly be faulted for admiring the view, can he? And thinking intensely filthy thoughts the more that dark gaze burns into him.

The Oracle’s perfect porcelain face flushes deeper, turns an almost alarming shade of red up to the tips of his ears, and oh _shit_ looks like he can read minds, too. Yunlan’s greedy gaze flickers to the Oracle’s mouth, down to the line of his throat, back up to his beautiful eyes, and oh damn. Yunlan should probably be concerned with the fact that Da Qing is gonna disown his ass and his team looks ready to vote him out of office, but the Oracle is still _staring_ at Yunlan like the very sight of him is overwhelming, hand slightly outstretched like he’s about to touch Yunlan, and before Yunlan realizes what he’s doing, he’s walked forwards and taken the Oracle’s hand. 

The Oracle freezes, and he actually _trembles_ under Yunlan’s hold. Yunlan grins, lacing their hands together and pulling the Oracle forwards, resting the fingers of his other hand against the wild thrum of the Oracle’s pulse. He drops to one knee, the picture of fairy-tale prince deference, presses his lips against the back of the Oracle’s shaking hand. His skin is oddly cool, but heats under Yunlan's touch.

“Hello. I’m Zhao Yunlan.” He grins and inwardly crows in delight when the Oracle’s elegant digits tighten around his. “I’m the Guardian of Kandrakar’s Heart. And yours, if you’d let me.”

* * *

Da Qing does _not_ toss him into the depths of eternity, but it’s a close one. The damage has been done, though. Yunlan’s fallen head over heels in love.

“He’s so _beautiful._ ” They have the run of the Student Commons, and Yunlan is rhapsodizing to any of the Guardians who would listen. Namely, Wang Zheng, who would tune him out after a few minutes – as if she has any room to talk, her boyfriend is a _Whisperer-_ and Xiao Guo, who’s the only one who shows him something like approval.

(Li Qian's taken to bringing earplugs with her, which she surreptitiously sticks into her ears to try to get studying done, and he's not entirely certain if Zhu Hong's sour comments come from a place of petty spite or jealousy but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to find out.)

“So elegant and wise –"

“Not wise enough to ignore you and spare all of us this hell, apparently.” Lao Chu mutters in an undertone. Yunlan ignores him.

“- And so _kind_ and good and an amazing strategist –“ Whenever the Oracle sent them on a new missiont, he would brief them on everything to know about that world and prepare them for any and every possibly danger. He would also join them whenever he could, and Yunlan’s brain had nearly short-circuited the first time he saw the Oracle out of the simple white robes Kandrakar’s council members wore and in a black cloak-and-mask ensemble. And the way he _moves_ when fighting makes Yunlan wonder-

“Please, stop. We don’t want to find out about your perverted fantasies.” Zhu Hong growls. Yunlan sighs. His phone, lying on the table, buzzes.

“You really don’t want to know what his recent search history is, Amitabha.” The voice that issues out of the speaker is mechanical and full of gloom. Yunlan scowls at his phone.

“Lin Jing, shut it or I’m not loading you up.” He threatens. Lin Jing the cellphone blares out an alarm in defiance but quiets down when Yunlan glares at it. He sighs.

“Everyone else has cool side-powers , why do I get _talking appliances._ ” He mutters, before immediately turning his attention to other, more important matters.“I am never ever going to fall in love with anyone else, the Oracle has stolen my heart with a single glance-“

“You really shouldn’t be this happy about being cradle-robbed.” Zhu Hong says waspishly. Wang Zheng pats her gently on the arm. “How old is that guy, anyway? Didn’t Da Qing say he’s older than the human race? That’s just _gross._ ” Lao Chu actually looks offended at that.

“I would thank you not to disrespect the Oracle. It’s the Chief who insists on disgracing himself in front of His Eminence.” He says stiffly. Apparently he’d come from the same planet as the Oracle before coming to Kandrakar. Tragically he was less than cooperative, and any and every question Yunlan had about the Oracle and their home planet went unanswered with threat of bodily injury.

Xiao Guo timidly comes to Yunlan’s defense. Or tries to.

“I think the Oracle also has a crush on the Chief. He always smiles when he sees him, he always laughs at the Chief's jokes, and he likes talking to the Chief more...” Lao Chu makes a strangled sort of noise in his throat, and Yunlan beams at Xiao Guo. Sometimes, the newbie managed to get it right (and other times, he ends up nearly electrocuting them all).

“See, from the lips of children speaks the truth!“ Xiao Guo shrinks back at Lao Chu’s glare, spluttering apologies. Zhu Hong rolls her eyes.

“Or he’s just humouring you because he’s bored and getting a good laugh out of it.” Zhu Hong says, very meanly. “Then again, your standards are so low that you’ll probably take it as a compliment anyway.” Lao Chu snorts, and Wang Zheng gives Yunlan’s back a gentle pat while giving him an incredibly judgmental look, and absolutely no one comes to his defense. Yunlan bemoans the fact that his team who he would gladly sacrifice his life for (and almost had, on several occasions) clearly believe he’s a utterly irredeemable slut.

(To be fair, he is, but that’s beside the point. Anyhows he hasn’t even _looked_ at anyone else after meeting the Oracle.).

As fate would have it, as Yunlan heads out for dinner after his Criminal Procedure, he catches sight of a pair of very familiar eyes. They’re hidden behind silver-framed glasses, and his hair is cropped short instead of its usual silky length, but no amount of disguises would prevent Yunlan from recognizing his beloved.

“Brother Oracle!” He says brightly, and the Oracle freezes. Closing his eyes like he’s beseeching the heavens grant him mercy and patience as Yunlan jogs over to his side. That hurts a little, but then the Oracle turns to face him and his gaze is. Soft. Trying rather hard to be stern and severe, but his eyes to Yunlan’s satisfaction, always remain an open book for him to peruse at pleasure.

“Zhao Yunlan,” he says, that voice that sends butterflies fluttering in Yunlan’s stomach.

“What brings you Earthside?” Yunlan asks. He’s somewhat satisfied to find out he’s still taller than the Oracle, even without transforming. “And why are you wearing glasses?” He lifts his hand to – he’s not really sure, maybe touch the side of the frames, and the Oracle’s hand shoots out, and his grip is like a vice around Yunlan’s wrist. Skin touching skin and _fuck._

“I’ve just concluded some official business, so I’ll be returning home.” He says, letting go of Yunlan’s wrist as quickly as possible. “You should be studying.” Yunlan takes a few seconds to collect himself, glancing surreptitiously at his wrist but there are no marks (to his regret). His disappointment is assuaged by how red the Oracle’s ears have gotten, and Yunlan smiles, slow, lascivious, and extremely pleased.

The Oracle’s ears burn even redder.

“Class just ended, Your Eminence.” He grins. “I’m free for the day.” The Oracle raises an eyebrow at him.

“And your schoolwork for tomorrow?” He asks, a little reprovingly. Unfortunately for him, Yunlan is a shameless brat.

“Are you offering to tutor me? So concerned, I’m touched.” He asks, and he flicks his tongue against his bottom lip for good measure. The Oracle wrenches his gaze away.

“Good-bye, Zhao Yunlan.” He says, and oh hell no he’s not getting away from Yunlan that easily. Yunlan blocks his path, pouting, and the Oracle tries to look at everything and everything but his face.

“You say you’re here on official business, so by nature of my office, I’m entitled to know what it is.” Yunlan says brightly. “I’m the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, so it’s my right to know asap any goings-on that might affect the other Guardians. For future planning, y’know? You never know when there might be a surprise exam, or something.” The Oracle sighs. 

“You are _incorrigible._ ” He says, but there’s a lightness to his gaze and the corners of his lips are firmly tucked-in, like he’s hiding a smile. Yunlan’s heart leaps.

“D’you want me to get you coffee?” Yunlan asks eagerly, even though his wallet is silently mourning. “There’s a great place I know about. Sells the best pastries.” It takes a little more gentle wheedling before the Oracle agrees.

Which is how Yunlan finds himself suffering silently while the Oracle neatly and almost daintily eats a slice of pistachio and green tea cake. This café is surprisingly empty for this time of the day, and Yunlan sneaks the Oracle a rather suspicious glance, wondering if he had anything to do with it. The Oracle glances up at him as he wipes his mouth with a napkin. Yunlan wants to lick the crumbs and frosting off his perfect, perfect lips.

“You’re not eating.” He points out. Yunlan blinks at him, rather idiotically, then remembers his order. Which so happens to be a cream puff, because of course he would. And well. That look in the Oracle’s eyes is perhaps a little too innocent.

Yunlan reminds himself he’s dealing with an ancient, possibly eldritch entity, and not a sweet-faced ingénue. For a moment he’s tempted to eat the pastry with his fingers and lick the mess off of them with the Oracle watching, but yeah no, the Oracle isn’t likely to be impressed by him being a slob. He smiles, slices into the pastry with a fork and puts it in his mouth, pulling it out and licking his lips, and _there_ you have it. The Oracle colors again. Not so innocent, really. Yunlan grins.

Yunlan would happily and enthusiastically debauch the fork with his tongue to see what other interesting expressions the Oracle would make, but he actually _does_ want to get to know the guy better, and so he restrains himself. The Oracle is studiously looking down at his cake, and not at Yunlan’s lips. Yunlan props his chin up on his hands and tilts his head.

“What were you doing near the university, anyway? Did anything happen?” The Oracle shakes his head. Still not looking at Yunlan.

“I just had a meeting with an old acquaintance. He asked me to look over an artifact that his team of archaeologists found. It’s not a particularly dangerous item, but in the wrong hands…” Yunlan taps his fingers on the table beside the Oracle’s free hand.

“So you confiscated it?” He’s rewarded by the corners of the Oracle’s eyes crinkling up.

“In a manner of speaking. I simply advised him to return it to the tomb they found it in. With an apology. I’ll assist them when they’re ready. The Guardians won’t need to concern themselves with it, it is a personal affair.” Yunlan narrows his eyes at him. It takes him a while to register the roiling in his gut as _jealousy._

“How do you even know that guy? _Who_ was that guy?” He allows some jealousy to seep into his voice. “Is he your boyfriend? An ex-boyfriend?” The Oracle blinks at him. He looks a little startled. Yunlan had probably been more vehement than he intended to be, but at the thought of anyone else’s hands on the Oracle… 

“No. I’ve only been in love once.” The Oracle blurts out. And then he claps his palm over his mouth, and his expression suddenly looks so _pained_ that Yunlan regrets being an ass for even asking.

“Brother Oracle?” Yunlan says. The Oracle doesn’t look like he’s hearing him for a moment, his expression distant. When he speaks, his voice is very soft.

“I. He did not reciprocate them. He was already in love with someone else.” His hand flutters to his throat. Only then does Yunlan notice that the Oracle is wearing an amber pendant tucked beneath is primly-buttoned up shirt. Or at least, he thinks it’s amber. It seems to glow with its own light. “I was very young, then. He probably saw me as a child.”

 _He’s an idiot._ Yunlan wants to say. _Who didn’t appreciate you._ Because who could look at the Oracle, spend any amount of time with him and _not_ fall in love almost instantly? But for once in his life, Yunlan doesn’t push it. The look on the Oracle’s face, though tranquil, hides a world of devastation. He wonders if that’s the purpose of his glasses – something to hide behind, a layer of protection like his mask.

Slowly, he reaches forwards, brushes his hand against the Oracle’s. To his surprise, though the Oracle doesn’t respond, he doesn’t pull away, either.

“What happened to him?” Yunlan asks softly. The Oracle is quiet for a moment before speaking.

“He had to leave, but not without making sure I was finally safe.” The Oracle then takes Yunlan’s hand, so suddenly that Yunlan gives a start, turning it over and studying the lines on his palm, as if lost in some sort of trance. “I… did not have an easy childhood. He actually saved my life, when we first met. He looked after me, kept saving me. Asked for absolutely nothing in return.” When he looks up. There’s a strange look on his face, that Yunlan can’t quite read, but he’s smiling. 

“Everything I eventually became was all thanks to him.” There’s an odd weight to the Oracle’s statement that Yunlan can’t quite figure out. He holds onto Yunlan a moment longer before letting him go just as abruptly. Like he’s remembering himself.

 _“Are you still in love with him?”_ Yunlan wants to ask. But just as he thinks of the question, the words clog up in his throat. For a moment, he wonders how could he possibly even compare to whoever the Oracle’s first love had been. How he could ever measure up, when he was just a dumb, cocky kid with powers he hasn’t fully mastered yet.

“Do you have any more questions, Zhao Yunlan?” The Oracle asks. And there’s something almost. Fragile in the Oracle’s question. Yunlan leans forward, and the Oracle draws his hands away.

“I want to know everything.” Yunlan says. “All about your childhood. How you became the Oracle. Everything that happened in-between.” That same sadness flickers across the Oracle’s gaze, but he doesn’t refuse. Emboldened, Yunlan pushes aside any and all lingering doubts away.

(He’s not going to let the shadow of the Oracle’s first love get in the way of Yunlan making him happy.)

“Tell me everything. I want to know.” Yunlan says. Demands. The Oracle looks at him quietly, and gives him what he wants.

* * *

They talk late into the night. Absolutely nothing more than talking happens, but Yunlan can’t bring himself to be disappointed. Not when the Oracle, probably guilty about how he’s depriving the café owner of income, stands up and suggests that it’s time for them to go. Except it’s now too late for Yunlan to catch a ride to his apartment a few blocks away.

“I can teleport us-“ Yunlan smirks at him.

“We ate a lot of carbs, it’s healthier for us to walk.” He says sweetly. The Oracle shakes his head in disbelief at Yunlan, but there’s a softness to the curve of his lips that betrays he’s probably enjoying the teasing quite a bit more than he’s letting on. And if Yunlan’s actually leading them through a more circuitous route to his apartment – well, it’s just strategy, and the Oracle’s a war general, and ought to respect it.

They pass by Dragon City Park. The Oracle touches a massive tree whose root system has started wrecking the sidewalk.

“This reminds me of a tree that used to grow back in my home planet. That species is completely unrelated to this, and is extinct now, besides. But they look fairly similar.” Yunlan listens raptly, hungry for details. Asking question upon question, and the Oracle answers them as best as he can, though sometimes there questions he can’t answer. 

_“What do they call you, around these parts?” He had asked. “Or do they know you as the Oracle of Kandrakar?” The Oracle smiled, but it was a wistful one. A quiet, sad smile that had Yunlan suddenly finding it difficult to breathe._

_“They call me by an assumed name. Not my real one.” The Oracle had told him. “I don’t remember my real name anymore.” And Yunlan made a quiet promise to himself that he would help him remember._

And there are others he won’t answer. He refuses to speak about his childhood and young adulthood, most especially about first love - gently telling Yunlan it’s too personal a question for him to ask, and Yunlan pushes down the stab of jealousy in his gut and the urge to comfort the pain he sees in the Oracle’s eyes. But the Oracle answers almost all else – from his ascendance to Oracle and the momentous events after.

Though Yunlan notices he makes a concerted effort to focus on his duties and his and the Guardian’s role in Kandrakar’s history – probably to drive home how boring he is, Yunlan suspects - Yunlan manages to get him to let slip some details about his past. How his first love’s favourite color is green, and that’s his favourite color now, too. How there had been a war in his homeworld that almost destroyed it, and how it had killed his parents. How he used to have a younger brother, and that younger brother was killed shortly before his first love had found him.

The portrait is a detailed one, though missing crucial swathes of information that Yunlan can’t help but keep returning to, like a child with a newly-loosened tooth. But he suspects it’s probably more detailed an account that the Oracle has ever given anyone.

(He also does not say out loud that he also likes the color green.)

Night has fallen when he and the Oracle finish talking, just outside Yunlan’s apartment building. Or rather, Lin Jing gives a very pointed buzz because _yes, Chief, you still have classes tomorrow_. The Oracle gives a start.

“I should not have kept you.” He says guiltily. Yunlan grins at him, pocketing Lin Jing and promising retribution, which would be no gaming apps for the foreseeable future.

“I wanted you to keep me.” He says sweetly. The Oracle looks like he’s about to rebuke him, but just sighs. Yunlan can see him trying not to smile at him fondly, and his heart feels so light it feels like he’s floating. The Oracle steps through a portal, and he’s gone. Yunlan waves at him until he disappears.

* * *

Unfortunately for Yunlan, that’s the last he sees of the Oracle in Dragon City for the next few months. Fortunately for him, he and the Guardians are tasked to handle a new case. A well-meaning farmer had apparently captured a goddess and had forced her to use her powers to make their inhospitable planet fertile (while bearing a massive grudge against the Oracle for not helping his planet out with his own powers). Except naturally, the goddess was none too happy about being imprisoned and was now wreaking havoc after having gotten loose. And also wound up kidnapping the king’s little son during her jailbreak, because well, what do you expect.

Which is how Yunlan ended up having a massive showdown with said river goddess, trying to get to the captured kid cowering in the corner of her swamp-cave lair. The others were battling it out with the goddess’ sisters, and Yunlan curses as the plants surrounding him turn to blades, to white fire that froze as it licked at his skin. It’s too close-quarters to risk an energy blast, so he concentrates on drawing her out. And then a blast rocks the cave complex and he just has enough time to grab the kid and cover him with his body before the ceiling collapses-

The ceiling doesn’t collapse. And then Yunlan sees the Oracle’s glaive flashing, sees the goddess baring fangs and launching herself at him. Another explosion rocks the cave, and Yunlan grabs the shaking kid and gets him the hell out, pushing him into his father’s arms and re-joining the fray.

The fight looks set to be drawn out for another few hours when Yunlan hears a loud hiss. The river goddess appears in a cloud of green mist, and speaks in a strange, sibilant language to her sisters. Immediately her sisters abandon the battle, and the Guardians are left blinking as the mist dissipates back to the marshlands. 

“The Oracle-!” Yunlan scrambles to his feet when he sees the dark shape, and immediately he sees that something’s wrong. The Oracle is leaning heavily against his glaive, and his mask is askew. Yunlan reaches him first, and when he holds out his arms to support him, he collapses.

“Brother Oracle!” Yunlan shouts in alarm. The expression on the Oracle’s face as he looks at Yunlan, just before he slips into unconsciousness is one of utmost peace.

They council members flurry around to heal the Oracle when they return. Yunlan refuses to leave Kandrakar while they’re treating him, almost forgetting he’s injured, too.

“My astral drop can take care of the exam.” Yunlan tells Zhu Hong distractedly when she points out they have a midterm in five days. “Zhang Shi’s a more responsible student than I am, anyway.” She looks like she’s gearing up for an argument, but then stops at the pinched look on Yunlan’s face. He hadn’t been allowed into the healing chambers. Only Lao Chu had been, probably by virtue of being the Oracle’s protégé. Yunlan tries not to think about the uses of energy cords for injuries, how badly injured someone has to be to need their use.

“We’ll give you notes, Chief.” Wang Zheng assures him. She gives Zhu Hong a pointed glance before the other Guardians leave. Yunlan sighs, rubbing his forehead, then feels a furry body rubbing up against his legs. Yunlan sighs, picks him up and buries his face in his fur.

“It’s mostly exhaustion,” Da Qing assures him. “He’d gotten plenty banged-up, too, but it’s not that bad. He’s been through worse.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Yunlan asks bluntly. Da Qing does not answer, he just purrs. Finally, after what feels like forever, Lao Chu emerges. He looks exhausted, but otherwise his usual curt self.

“He’s fine.” Then, like he’s wrestling with even getting the words out. “He asked after you. Don’t disturb him, he’s asleep.” Yunlan immediately jumps to his feet, spilling Da Qing onto the floor and Lao Chu sighs, visibly regretting everything as he leads Yunlan to the Oracle’s personal chambers. First, a study that had ceiling to floor shelves of books and scrolls, and then, a simple room. Lao Chu opens the door, and Yunlan immediately makes a beeline to the still, sleeping figure lying on what appears to be a roll-up bed. 

“Don’t cause any trouble.” Lao Chu grunts. Then he gently shuts the door. Yunlan sighs, sliding down to sit cross-legged on the floor beside the Oracle.

“This was not how I wanted to get you in bed.” Yunlan tells the unconscious Oracle mournfully as he takes his hand. “Or how I wanted to get into your room.” The Oracle doesn’t respond, of course. Yunlan sighs, presses his lips against the Oracle’s hand.

“You do too much, you know?” Yunlan says. “You let yourself get hurt too often when protecting us.” He’ doubts either he or the kid would have survived if the Oracle hadn’t stepped in. At the memory of the crumbling cave, he shudders. Closes his eyes. Looks like his nightmares are gonna have a brand new setting.

“I’m sorry I’m so useless.” Yunlan says after a long silence. “One day, I’ll be the one to protect you. I’ll be a proper Guardian of Kandrakar. So hurry up and wake up already.” He presses his lips to the Oracle’s hand again, trying to untangle the angry knot of emotion in his chest. “I have a lot to prove to you.”

He sighs again. When he looks up, a black gaze is on his. Yunlan starts, wondering how long the Oracle had been awake. The Oracle reaches forward with his free hand, and Yunlan almost tells him not to move, he’s so hurt, but the Oracle just touches his cheek lightly.

“Zhao Yunlan.” The Oracle whispers, and Yunlan shudders. He’ll never get over the softness with which the Oracle speaks his name. “You have absolutely nothing to prove to me.” His eyes are clouded with pain and likely drugs to dull the edge of it, and Yunlan feels something in his chest snap.

Before he can reply – though words are inadequate - the Oracle moves forwards. Pushing himself up and touching his lips, very gently, to Yunlan’s. Just the barest brush of soft lips against his, for the briefest, sweetest moment before pulling away.

Yunlan stares at him, stunned, and then the Oracle’s eyes drift shut. Yunlan eases him back down against his pillows, and takes his hand.

* * *

Yunlan goes home when Zhu Hong calls to inform him that Zhang Shi the astral drop has rebelled, and refuses to take the exam in his stead. Neither she nor Da Qing spare him any amount of sympathy.

The Oracle is asleep when Yunlan leaves, and Yunlan regretfully nudges a kiss against the side of his mouth. Murmuring he’ll be back, and to send for him soon.

The Oracle does not send for him, or the rest of the Guardians. Instead, he uses Da Qing as an intermediary and seems to be making a concerted effort to avoid speaking to Zhao Yunlan in person.

Yunlan sighs the next time he corners the fat cat and Da Qing deflates and tells him that yes, the Oracle is purposefully avoiding him. And no, he’s not responding to the letters that Yunlan’s having Da Qing bring back to him, either.

“I am going to kill him.” He says calmly. Da Qing meows, and lets Yunlan rub his face against his belly.

The next time the Guardians are allowed visit Kandrakar, Yunlan grins at the Oracle, filthy and shameless, a lollipop between his lips as the Oracle determinedly looks anywhere but him, telling them about their new mission. He peels away from the others when the Oracle tries to go to his private study.

The Oracle does a fine job of pretending to ignore him, and Yunlan does a fine job of pretending to let him. Sauntering close enough that their hands brush, and he winks when he catches the Oracle glancing back and checking if he’s following, and clearly not knowing what to do with the fact that he is.

The Oracle’s ears flame red. He turns away, but Yunlan catches his hand when they reach his study, preventing him from shutting the door on Yunlan’s face and slipping in past him so they’re finally alone.

“How are your injuries?” He removes the lollipop from his mouth, and the Oracle’s gaze trails to his lips before snapping back up to his eyes. “Did you read my letters? I was worried about you.” The Oracle’s face does that complicated twist of emotion that it does whenever Yunlan asks after his well-being (which makes Yunlan wonder more than once, does anyone else actually bother to _ask_ _)._

“I am well. There’s nothing to worry about, I’ve fully healed. I can assure you the healing arts some of our elders practice are far more advanced than anything in your home world’s medical field.” Yunlan does not miss how he refrains from mentioning the letters at all. frowns, tightens his hold on the Oracle’s hand.

“Reading between the lines, you mean I shouldn’t worry, you’re used to being injured that badly?” But of course. The Oracle wouldn’t have started off as a badass. He would have been young and inexperienced at one point, learning by trial and error, and paying for his mistakes in grievous bodily injury. Yunlan tries to quash the horror he feels at that, silently wondering if the Oracle’s asshole first love had anything to do with this attitude.

The Oracle simply looks at him, then pulls his hand away from Yunlan’s and heads over to his desk without a reply. Yunlan swallows a sigh, gathering all his previously non-existent patience to him as he sits across the Oracle. He sticks the lollipop back in his mouth, rolling it over his lips.The Oracle looks like he’s trying to work up the nerve to say something – probably to apologize for kissing Yunlan, knowing him - but keeps retreating at the sight of Yunlan cheerfully and determinedly fellating the lollipop in front of him. He counts three minutes before the Oracle looks up the book he’s been attempting to read, faces him with his cheeks burning.

“Please stop that. It’s distracting.” Yunlan grins at him, shameless.

“How so, Brother Oracle?” He barely resists giving the lollipop a lick as he pulls it out of his mouth. If possibly, the Oracle’s ears and cheeks flush even redder. “It’s nothing you haven’t tasted-“

“Zhao Yunlan!” The Oracle rebukes him, and Yunlan rolls his eyes.

“Fine, no more licking.” He puts his chin on his palm. “Though, you did do a great job ignoring me after you kissed me. I’m disappointed, you didn’t seem the kind of guy who would ghost someone -“ The Oracle snaps his book shut, loud enough that Yunlan almost jumps, glaring right at him and oh _shit_ for all his cheeky shameless needling Yunlan _does not_ expect how very turned on being on the receiving end of that look actually _is._ Or how guilty it makes him feel.

“I apologize for my improper actions.” The Oracle says after a long silence, and the expression on his face is. Awful. “What I did was inexcusable, and. Wrong. It will not happen again.” And all right, Yunlan’s had it. He wraps the lollipop back in its wrapper, sticks it into his pocket.

“Why are you apologizing for something I’d wanted you to do the moment I met you?” He asks earnestly. The Oracle makes a strangled, pained noise.

“Zhao Yunlan, you are _nineteen years old_.” The Oracle says, his voice tight. “What do you possibly find so interesting about me that you cannot satisfy with someone your own age?” The Oracle asks after a long silence. Demands, actually. And there’s that look again. That almost pleading expression. And yeah. No. Teasing won’t do for this. Yunlan’s done holding back what he feels.

“I’m in love with you.” Yunlan says simply, awkwardly, because oh man, confessing is _difficult,_ and he feels sudden sympathy for all the anime characters he ever judged for not being able to spit it out. All the emotion is smoothed out of the Oracle’s face. He looks like a Professor discussing a failed exam grade, while not particularly buying said student’s excuse for being unable to study, but there’s also that flicker of emotion that Yunlan recognizes from when the Oracle kissed him. That has him continue, despite how foolish he feels.

“I find you interesting. Way more interesting than anyone else I know, you’re like a walking, talking encyclopedia of the universe, and I can probably learn everything there is about my degree from you alone. And then some.” He winces, because damn. He just made it sound like he was after the guy’s library.

“That wisdom is by virtue of the fact that I am _at least ten thousand years older than you_.” The Oracle points out. Yunlan blinks. Oh, wow. But he’s not about to let age put a damper on a possible relationship.

“So? I’m legal where I’m from?” Yunlan gives him a cheerful little smile. The Oracle does not smile back. He looks. Vulnerable. Looking at Yunlan with a desperate openness that has Yunlan’s stomach fluttering, that has him grasping at his courage to make the bravest speech he’s ever done.

“You’re also the bravest, kindest person I know.” Yunlan continues, standing up. “You’re such a good person, and I know you probably don’t think that because you’ve _obviously_ been through a lot of shit. You always put yourself on the line to protect us and the worlds you’re looking after – and trust me, that’s a rarity. My Dad’s a police chief and their superintendents just sit on their asses all day and let their subordinates to do the dirty work. Not you, though.” All right, Yunlan’s babbling now, and the Oracle’s face is getting redder and redder and Yunlan’s not quite sure when he’d moved to his side of the table but he’s here now, and he’s holding the Oracle’s hand. And the Oracle isn’t pulling away. 

“Also you look really lonely and it’s. Not right.” Yunlan’s stammering now. Saying anything that enters his head. The Oracle’s fingers curl around his and there’s something almost desperate about it that has Yunlan pressing it against his chest, over his heart. “You give so much, and you just _keep giving_ but who’s the one taking care of you? Especially when you’re hurt. And I don’t like seeing you hurt.” He remembers the Oracle, lying pale and still, and his fingers involuntarily tighten. He brings the Oracle’s hand up to his lips.

“I like seeing you smile. And laugh. You don’t do it enough, but you do it around me. And I just. I want to be the reason for it _._ I want to make you happy.” The Oracle’s skin is cool, but warms where Yunlan is touching him. His eyes are glassy, and wet, and he starts when Yunlan brushes them. Yunlan exhales, leaning forwards to brush his lips against the Oracle’s, as light as butterfly wings.

For one perfect moment, they kiss, as gently as they had last time. Emboldened, Yunlan surges forwards, takes the Oracle’s face between his hands and kisses him, hard. The Oracle gasps, and Yunlan slides his tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss and feeling the Oracle melt beneath him. He keeps kissing the Oracle until his mouth is raw, until the Oracle’s lips are spit-slick and kiss-bruised, and the Oracle kisses him back. Gentle and slightly clumsy, but full of a roaring need that sends Yunlan’s head spinning-

And then the Oracle wrenches himself away, out of Yunlan’s grasp, so suddenly that Yunlan almost loses balance.

“You are a _child._ ” The Oracle says. He carefully does not face Yunlan, staring at him, his expression hurt, his lips tingling. _“_ I cannot let you – I cannot in good conscience allow myself to –. I shouldn’t have encouraged you.“ He’s clearly rattled, almost wild-eyed, and when Yunlan reaches for him, he tenses, draws away. 

“And I’m telling you, I want you.” Yunlan says, as earnestly as he can, trying to push down the burning lump in his throat. The Oracle shakes his head, his eyes are dark and so, so unhappy. 

“You do not know what it is you’ll be getting yourself into.” He says, and Yunlan wants to _retort Oh hey, so I’m old enough to save the worlds at your bidding, but not to know my own feelings?_ but he doesn’t because he knows it’ll hurt the Oracle over things that were as much his duty as it were the Guardians’, and remembers too late that the Oracle can read minds.

The Oracle flinches. Yunlan almost kicks himself.

“I’m sorry-“ He’s silenced by the Oracle placing a hand over his mouth. They stand for a moment like that. At an impasse. The Oracle breaks it by speaking.

“Remember that you serve Kandrakar, and the worlds it protects. Not me.” He says. He drops his hand, Yunlan does not follow him as he leaves.

* * *

Yunlan takes the Oracle’s rejection well, all things considered. He throws himself at his duties with even more determined than before. So much that Da Qing actually takes him aside and has to be the one to yell at _him_ to pay attention to his classes, too, before his parents have his hide. He then spends the next few days purring grumpily against Yunlan’s shoulder while Yunlan bawls his eyes out into his fur.

“I was stupid, wasn’t I?” Yunlan says after he’s all cried out.

“Well, _yeah._ ” Da Qing says. Yunlan deflates. “But.” He sighs, flicks his tail in the way that Yunlan recognizes as him figuring out how to explain matters in a way a stubborn teenage boy can’t spin to his advantage.

“-Don’t take this the wrong way, I am definitely _not_ encouraging you to throw yourself at the Oracle again, but don’t be too hard on him too, you know? He’s been through a lot.” Da Qing needs at Yunlan’s belly to make sure he’s paying attention. “And I mean a _lot._ I guess he’s just not used to having someone care about him. _”_ His tail flicks. “But he’s also right: he’s way too old for you, kid. _Aeons_ too old.”

Yunlan tries to think of everything a person can go through within ten thousand years. Of what the Oracle could have gone through that made him try to handle everything all alone. His shoulders sag. Da Qing bats at his cheek.

“Cheer up, will you? So you got your heart broken. You’ll recover. There’s plenty of fish in the sea. And your team is worried.”

“There’s not gonna be anyone else for me.” Yunlan says with gloomy finality. Da Qing looks ready to smack him – with claws- and just right then, Yunlan hears a knock on the door.

Xiao Guo and Li Qian hesitantly peep in, and then the rest of the Guardians are forcing themselves in. Zhu Hong’s tossing a bottle of her family’s homebrewed wine at Yunlan – narrowly missing his crotch - and Wang ZHeng’s armed with chocolates. Even Lao Chu is here, rolling his eyes at Yunlan but bringing about fifty pieces of barbecue and grilled intestines, and though Yunlan’s heart is still shattered into a million tiny pieces, his friends’ presence helps chase away the misery of the past week.

He recovers. And even if he still stands too close to the Oracle, or sticks close to him during missions, or tries to be his backup as fiercely as the Oracle protects them. If he still looks hopefully at the Oracle, and the Oracle determinedly looks away, maintaining eye contact mainly with Lao Chu or Zhu Hong (though there’s a tenderness to his speech when he speaks to Yunlan that even Xiao Guo picks up on.) Well. Hope is hard to kill. 

And then the night of the party happens. It had been Wang Zheng’s idea to go clubbing, and in all honesty they all badly needed this time to recharge and be ordinary college students again – when Yunlan’s ulcers begins to flare up after a few too many beers. He manages to make his way to the alley outside the bar and ends up sitting heavily on his ass while an invisible heated fork twists into his insides. And then he feels a hand on his arm, and he nearly shoves it off, prepared for a fight. And then he hears the other person speak his name.

“Zhao Yunlan.” Yunlan looks up, his vision bleary to find the Oracle crouching in front of him. He’s wearing a blue suit and a vest beneath it. Yunlan stares at him, and it takes a few moments before his drunk brain manages to force out a greeting.

“Hello again, Great Beauty.” The Oracle’s ears color prettily, as they always do when Yunlan teases him. But his voice is still gentle as he speaks.

“Up you get, Ah Lan.” Yunlan wobbles but somehow manages to stay upright, and he almost trips over a fat black furry ball that can only be Da Qing, though he can barely see. He hears the Oracle speaking to someone – Zhu Hong, he thinks muzzily, and then pain flares up in his stomach, and he winds up gasping.

The Oracle bodily lifts him up in his arms, and then Yunlan’s left blinking, back in his pigsty of an apartment. He stares at the Oracle as the Oracle settles him on the bed, then heads to his kitchen just on the other side of the unit, bringing back a glass of water. And because his brain to mouth filter is broken, he ends up saying:

“I’m so happy I finally got you into my bedroom.” He’s surprised that the Oracle’s ears don’t burst into flame, they’re so red. Yunlan tries to grin at him, and then he feels a tablet being pressed into his palm.

“Antacids.” The Oracle says. He holds out the glass of water for Yunlan to drink, and Yunlan shakes his head.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to hold it. You gotta help me drink it.” He keeps his eyes wide and innocent, and the Oracle sighs.

“Hold still, then.” He presses the rim of the glass against Yunlan’s lips, and Yunlan tilts his head so that the Oracle has to brace the back of his neck. His grip is firm, his skin is cool, and Yunlan’s concentrating so hard on the sensation he barely tastes the water, or notices he’s drained the glass until the Oracle sets it down on his cluttered bedside table.

The Oracle’s eyes are unbearably sad. Also wistful, so full of a cavernous longing that Yunlan feels like he could get lost in them if he stares for too long. Whatever flirty comment Yunlan had been about to make dies on his tongue. They stare at each other for a while, and then Yunlan reaches for the Oracle, the Oracle tries to draw back. But Yunlan manages to cling to his sleeve. The Oracle freezes, but he doesn’t tug his arm away.

 _Let me in._ Yunlan wants to say. _I want to know you. I want you to stop being so sad. Let me in._

He doesn’t say it out loud, knowing how childish and selfish the demand is. He clings tighter to the Oracle’s hand, and the Oracle. Lets him.

“Talk to me until I fall asleep?” Yunlan whispers. “If you don’t have anything important going on? I don’t want to wake up alone.” The Oracle swallows.

“I will read to you.” He says. He tips Yunlan back, and Yunlan sighs, his head rolling back against his pillow. He sees the Oracle take something from the pile of books at the foot of his bed – a collection of ancient Chinese poems, and as the Oracle’s voice fills the air, his eyes close.

He feels the Oracle’s hands drifting through his hair as he falls all the way asleep. 

When he wakes up, Da Qing is curled up beside him on the bed. The apartment is shockingly spick-and-span, and there’s congee on the stove, and fresh groceries in Yunlan’s refrigerator. The Oracle is gone.

* * *

After that, things go back to normal. Mostly.

They don’t speak about that evening. But Yunlan notices that the Oracle is looking him in the eye again. Always with that trace of sadness that he quickly tries to paper over. But he doesn’t move away when Yunlan stands beside him, or whenever Yunlan gets close, or cracks a joke – the sadness in the Oracle’s gaze easing with a laugh. And when Yunlan asks him how he is, he actually answers. At first brief, then longer. Yunlan carefully unspooling the Oracle’s cares and burdens until the weight is lifted off his shoulders, even just for a moment. 

The Oracle always looks so surprised at how much he speaks, when Yunlan manages it. Yunlan wonders how many millennia it’s actually been, that someone spoke to the Oracle like a person instead of a figurehead. So Yunlan restrains his thirst, his overwhelming want, ramming the hurricane of feelings he has for the Oracle into something approaching patience, for the first time in his life.

If the Oracle wants a friend more than a lover, that’s what he’ll be. But he’s not about to stop him from caring. And if he insists on showing it in little, non-physical ways – leaving little gifts for the Oracle in his study when he’s not looking, sending him messages that were never untoward but simply. Curious. Or sweet. If sometimes he comes home to find his refrigerator stocked with healthy, cooked food (and all his instant noodles gone), and at night he shudders awake out of a nightmare to gentle hands stroking his hair before he wakes all the way up – And if sometimes he catches the Oracle looking at him with that overwhelming longing when he thinks Yunlan isn’t looking, and if sometimes he forgets to end the conversation when it starts to get too intimate , too personal. If he sees the Oracle’s unguarded smile, more and more -

Yunlan’s learned there are some things he shouldn’t give up on. And he’s willing to wait.

* * *

Yunlan and the rest are recovering in Kandrakar after their toughest battle yet: a former Keeper of the Heart gone rogue, and who tried to take over Kandrakar itself. Yunlan and the rest of the Guardians had won, but it had been a close call, and the Oracle had been left to battle the former Keeper herself. Or would have, if Yunlan and the other Guardians hadn’t burst through the force field keeping them locked away and taken over when the Oracle finally faltered and fell to his knees.

Later, after a coordinated burst of power sends the former Keeper crumbling into nothing, Yunlan stumbles towards the crumpled black figure being guarded by Da Qing. The Oracle is and conscious, but as Yunlan helps him sit up, he coughs up blood. His body is far too light as Yunlan gathers him up, and he rages quietly as the medically-inclined elders fuss over the Oracle. The Oracle leaning heavily against him the whole time, clinging to his hand as he’s treated for his injuries.

Afterwards, Yunlan and Lao Chu had helped the Oracle up. Helping him onto the bed as the Oracle gasps, his face drained of color, skin the same color as the bandages that cover him. The former Keeper had nearly fucking wiped the floor with him, Yunlan thinks in anger and guilt. Overtaxed as he was protecting the other council members and the Guardians themselves.

“I thought you said we were supposed to protect you. Not the other way around. _Again_.” Yunlan says tersely. But his hands are gentle as he lays the Oracle out. Lao Chu is preparing bandages and what looks like bottles of ointment, and is strenuously avoiding listening in on their conversation.

“If Nerissa had destroyed me, you would have been the council ‘s– and the universe’s - last hope.” The Oracle says simply. “I am one member. Your duty is to Kandrakar, and not me-“ Yunlan’s fingers curl into fists.

“What do you think we would have done without _you?”_ He snaps. _What I would have done?_ Which he doesn’t say out loud because of how fucking selfish it is and it makes him so _angry_ that he understands the Oracle so well but still be so angry with him. Because he would have done the same thing. The Oracle looks at him and there goes that look again. That painfully vulnerable look that Yunlan wants to kiss off his face. Before he can, Lao Chu prods Yunlan to get his attention, points at the bandages and ointment. 

“Bandages need to be changed in six hours.” He says, scowling pointedly at Yunlan. “You _are_ staying here, aren’t you?” Yunlan forces down all his anger and sheer frustrated despair that doesn’t even have an actual target, nods. Moves to hold the Oracle’s hand. He’s not a small man, but against the plain sheets of his bed, beaten within an inch of his (immortal) life, he looks so fragile.

“Yeah. I’m staying with him until he recovers.” Yunlan says, feeling like he’s about to cry. Lao Chu gives him a long look, and Yunlan expects to be bodily hauled out, but to his surprise, Lao Chu shrugs. 

“I’ll tell the others you won’t be going back with them.” He grunts, then he exits the room, leaving Yunlan and the Oracle alone. Yunlan keeps his vigil beside the Oracle’s bed, and then in a few seconds he’s asleep.

He wakes up to a bandaged hand stroking his face, and he’s back to his normal twenty-year old body, scuffed jeans and all. The Oracle watching him with a soft gaze, and a year ago Yunlan probably would have made a perverted comment about finally seeing the Oracle topless. But now he just clings to the Oracle’s hand, taking care not to jostle or hurt him. Not even trying to kiss his fingertips, or palms. Just the two of them soaking up the comfort of each other’s presence, and the relief that they’re still alive.

Yunlan only leaves when the Oracle can stand upright again - not really by choice, he has classes starting the next day. The Oracle sees him off. He’s still a little pale, but at least he no longer looks like he’s a mummy that’s about to keel over. Yunlan shifts a backpack full of books that Kandrakar’s Librarian had grudgingly allowed him to borrow, on the Oracle’s behest.

“I’ll see you after class.” Yunlan says. It’s not a question. His sophomore year is starting the next day, and he feels a twinge of panic, because he’s done none of the required readings. Hopefully his astral drop has done some assignments, but knowing Zhang Shi…. To his surprise, the Oracle asks him his own question.

“Will you come here, or shall I go to you?” The Oracle’s gaze is uncertain, but soft. Yunlan’s heart leaps.

“Does that mean – are you asking me out?” He could slap himself for being a teenage boy just when he’s finally out of his teens. The Oracle chuckles softly, and it’s Yunlan’s favourite sound in the world.

“There are… things we need to discuss.” He says. “Things I probably should not have kept from you. But I promise, Ah Lan. This time, I’ll answer all your questions as best as I can.” Yunlan stares at him, but he does not elaborate. With an impulsiveness he hasn’t felt in a year, he reaches forward, cups the Oracle’s face between his hands. Kisses him, right on the forehead, then on the mouth. Feeling the Oracle’s cheeks flush hot beneath his palms and kisses him again. This time, it’s the Oracle who deepens the kiss. Tasting Yunlan tentatively, letting Yunlan wrap him in his arms. 

“I’m looking forward to it.” Yunlan says against his lips, more than a little giddy. This time, it’s not agony to pull away, knowing they’ll be together again in a short amount of time. He waves at the Oracle, blows him a kiss as he waves back. Smiling even as Kandrakar dissolves around him and he returns home, unbearably smug, to find his team waiting for him.

At the sight of his grin, Wang Zheng claps in congratulations, and Xiao Guo is actually teary-eyed. Li Qian is grinning with none of her usual shy reserve, and though Zhu Hong rolls her eyes, she’s smiling. Lao Chu gives Yunlan a thumbs-up, kinda like a Roman Emperor letting a gladiator live. And Yunlan. Yunlan feels like he’s floating.

Just his luck, though. On his way out of class, he comes across a portal.

It’s a small one, right in the middle of an unusually deserted stretch of tree-lined road leading from the Arts and Humanities Building to the College of Engineering. For a moment, Yunlan wonders if something’s up in Meridian that necessitated Kandrakar putting up the Veil once more. But then Yunlan sees it’s different from the portals leading to Metamoor. Instead of swirling white light, the energy that emanates from it is a dense black, and it’s _cold._ And as Yunlan frowns and cautiously draws closer, a sudden gust of energy suddenly suckers him in.

The last thing he hears is the Oracle’s panicked shout as he fails to grab Yunlan’s hand.

* * *

He drops, feet-first, on the steep slope of a hill. Winds up rolling to an ungraceful stop, and fuck _ow._ He hisses as he pushes himself up, feeling like he’s been cut to pieces by thorns and God knows what else. It’s dark. He can barely see his hand in front of his face. And then he notices the fight happening at the distance, which was less a fight than a no-holds barred beatdown.

There’s a skinny boy holding a glaive that looks far too big for him, trying to hold his ground against five or six adults. All of them are dressed in old-style hanfu, though the boy is dressed in rags. The kid is clearly flagging, and Yunlan doesn’t even hesitate as he summons the Heart, transforming into his Guardian form and sending an energy wave right into the adults.

The men screech. Some take off running. The others lack enough sense to do the same, and Yunlan makes quick work of them, sending them sprawling on the ground with at least one or two broken bones. They manage to drag themselves away somehow, and Yunlan cheerfully waves goodbye to their retreating asses. And then he turns to the kid, who’s been watching everything in a sort of confused daze. Clutching his glaive to him protectively, and Yunlan blinks. Because he recognizes that glaive. The kid had been moving too fast for him to see the details, but he would recognize the Oracle’s chosen weapon anywhere.

Yunlan carefully drops to a crouch in front of the kid. The boy stares at him, clearly terrified, and _oh._ Yunlan recognizes those big black eyes. And the face is too young and far too thin, but Yunlan knows exactly who it is.

The not-yet Oracle’s grip on the glaive tightens when Yunlan draws closer. Yunlan swallows, holds out his hand. Like he’s befriending a feral cat, and at the lack of aggression the boy relaxes an infinitesimal amount.

“I’m Zhao Yunlan.” Yunlan says, as gently and as kindly as possible. “What’s your name?” The boy stares at him for a moment longer. He can’t be older than eleven. Probably younger.

“Shen Wei.” He whispers. It’s barely audible. “What are you?” He glances at Yunlan’s green wings in fearful awe, and when he reaches up to trace their edges, Yunlan smiles wider, lets him touch.

“Shen Wei. That’s a nice name.” Yunlan says. He feels so much tenderness he thinks his heart can burst. The boy draws back, tucking himself into a ball again, but the expression on his face as he looks at Yunlan is. Hopeful.

“I’m a Guardian. _Your_ Guardian. It’s all right. You don’t have to worry anymore. You’re safe with me.”

Shen Wei places his small, skinny hand in his, and Yunlan’ heart soars.

* * *

The Oracle waits. Just as he’s always done. Ordinarily while waiting for important news, he would meditate. But right now, he just sits cross-legged right in front of the road where the portal had appeared, holding the amber glass pendant Zhao Yunlan had given him between his fingers.

 _"Are you hungry?" Zhao Yunlan had been worried for a child he had only met a few hours ago, patting his strange clothes - even stranger than the wings that had disappeared -_ _until he found was_ _a round sweet on a stick he'd tucked into a pocket._

 _"Sorry, this is all I have. Here. Maybe it can tide you over until I get you some food."_ _He'd unwrapped it and tucked it into the child's hand, unknowing that this was the first kindness that the child had experienced in a very long time._

_Later, the child had filched the wrapper. He'kept it with him until he found a suitable place to put it in, where it could always be close to his skin, a comfort he held onto as centuries passed._

The night breeze is cool against his skin. There is no one else around. Whoever decides to use the road find themselves opting to use for different shortcuts, or remembering important tasks. He’s alone – he sent out the rest of the Guardians to investigate who caused the portal to open as soon as Yunlan had fallen in, but he already knows where it leads to.

_The young man who had dropped into his world, into his path. Who had saved him and protected him and taught him all he knew._

Ordinarily his chest would be twisting in anxiety whenever Zhao Yunlan is concerned, whenever he’s in possible danger (and he usually is) but right now, all the Oracle feels is a bottomless calm and a sense of bittersweet rightness. Zhao Yunlan is where he should be, and whether his fate be by the Oracle’s side, or his younger self’s, all the Oracle can do is to let it run its course and trust it to lead the one he loves back to him.

And back to him it leads. The Oracle opens his eyes, and a swirling mass of energy breaks open the earth again. It takes all his willpower not to be sucked in, and he grits his teeth. But only a few seconds later, the energy dissipates, and in the middle of what used to be the portal is a man.

He’s dressed in green, but it’s not his Guardian outfit, but a set of plain green robes that had been almost washed to rags. His hair is in a long braid, reaching almost to his back, and his face, when he looks up and sees Shen Wei, is no longer has the softness of a boy’s, but the hardened angles of adulthood.

But his eyes still sparkle with the same joy, tempered by sadness and bittersweet regret. His thoughts, when the Oracle skims them, are still the terribly selfish, hungry, deeply loving thoughts of the boy who’d disappeared just a few hours ago.

He looks exactly like the memories from ten thousand years ago that the Oracle keeps alive in his heart, and the Oracle trembles as he moves to stand. Zhao Yunlan’s lips tremble as he drinks the sight of him in, his face naked, all masks gone, and the Oracle suddenly feels anxious fear twist in his chest. He resists the urge to kneel at Zhao Yunlan’s feet. To ask him all the questions that had spun through his mind for ten thousand long years. 

_Have I done enough?_ The Oracle wonders. _Have I made you proud of me? Have I proven myself worthy of every bit of praise you ever showered me with, every promise I ever made you?_

“Xiao Wei,” and the Oracle freezes.

“What did you call me?” He whispers. Zhao Yunlan smiles, and it wobbles. His eyes are wet.

“Xiao Wei. My Xiao Wei.” He steps forward. “Your name is Shen Wei.” He reaches up to hold Shen Wei’s face, and he’s eleven years old all over again, staring in awe at what he thought was a god, sent to protect him by the heavens themselves. He’s ten thousand years old, and his heart has returned to him, whole.

Something in Shen Wei’s heart that had cracked open the moment he’d seen Zhao Yunlan in Kandrakar, breaks all the way open.

“Xiao Wei, I love you.” Zhao Yunlan’s voice breaks, and Shen Wei kisses Zhao Yunlan with all the pent-up hunger of ten thousand years as Zhao Yunlan gathers him into his arms, safe at last.

* * *

They barely make it to Yunlan’s apartment. Shen Wei opens a portal and they’re practically falling into Yunlan’s (thankfully empty) bed, and Yunlan spares a moment for the sheer _weirdness_ of being in a room he hasn’t seen in… what must have been six years? Seven? At the very least. It’s kinda hard to tell considering that world hadn’t had any sunlight to speak of.

But never mind that, because he’s here now, and Shen Wei is with him. Shen Wei shivers as Yunlan places his hands on him, licking and kissing a trail down his throat, teeth scraping against skin, and he gasps at the heat of Yunlan’s palms as he slides his hands beneath his robes.

“Xiao Wei? You’re shaking.” Yunlan murmurs against Shen Wei’s ear. He presses a kiss against the shell of Shen Wei’s ear, watching Shen Wei blinks the burn of his tears away. 

“It’s been so long.” He says hoarsely. “And I didn’t think I would ever have this.” and Yunlan’s chest aches at the loneliness wound tight in Shen Wei’s soul that he was just beginning to unravel. Ten thousand years of waiting, of thinking the one he loved didn’t love him back.

Yunlan kisses him. Leans their foreheads together. His pendant glows in the half-dark, and Yunlan smiles as he touches his fingers to it. Remembering the day he gave it to Shen Wei, knowing what's inside it. 

_They' were at a festival, and Shen Wei' had been eyeing the glass baubles one of the stall-owners had as prizes for a game. Yunlan wouldn't have even glanced twice at them, and then he recognized a certain round pendant that Shen Wei was inspecting._

_It had been easy enough to win one - the game itself was basically the Dixing equivalent of popping balloons with darts - and Shen Wei's smile was blinding as Yunlan put it around his neck. Yunlan had been curious about what Shen Wei planned to do with it. Besides the cufflinks he'd seen Shen Wei wear while wearing his suits, he'd never been into jewelry._

_He got his answer when he saw Shen Wei surreptitiously slip a foil wrapper from the first lollipop he ever gave him inside the hollow sphere._

He smiles at Shen Wei, letting go of the pendant. “You have me now.” He says. He kisses Shen Wei again, and Shen Wei wraps him in his arms, tight like a vice. Clinging to him while Yunlan breathes against him. Shen Wei’s already so close but still Yunlan aches for him.

“I’m sorry for everything I put you through.” Yunlan says, and Shen Wei looks up at him, eyes suddenly blazing.

“Don’t.” He says fiercely. “Don’t ever regret entering my life. You gave me everything I have.” Yunlan shudders. Shen Wei looks at him with eyes gone dark and liquid. He reaches forwards, untying Yunlan’s robes and removing his own. Straddling him when they’re both naked, and Yunlan glances up in surprise as Shen Wei begins to touch him. Bold and exploring the dip of his muscles as he leans down to kiss Yunlan. Shen Wei throwing his head back as Yunlan moves to touch him. Clumsy in comparison, almost reverential as he strokes along Shen Wei’s spine and the curve of his firm ass, licking into his mouth.

As their cocks brush together Shen Wei shivers, lets out a gasp that has Yunlan digging his fingers into his hips. Shen Wei’s eyes fly fully open, and Yunlan arches up against him again. Shockwaves of lust rippling through him as Shen Wei trembles and trembles in his arms. Rocking against each other, and as Shen Wei reaches between them, Yunlan nearly loses his mind right then and there as Shen Wei squeezes them together, bitten lips falling open beneath the gentle assault of Yunlan’s mouth. Rubbing up and down and there’s nothing shy about the pace at all, or the look on Shen Wei’s face as he squeezes and strokes between them.

“My beauty’s no longer a shy flower.” Yunlan still finds it in himself to tease Shen Wei. Shen Wei knots his fingers into the back of his head, then he he leans down, biting Yunlan’s lip, _hard._ Yunlan yelps into his mouth, and Shen Wei takes the opportunity to slide his tongue in, and the raw, unpracticed edge of his kiss makes it even hotter. Shen Wei only releases him when they run out of air.

“I’ve waited long enough.” Shen Wei says simply. His face is aflame, but his expression is defiant and _hungry_. “I need you.” Yunlan grins, breathless.

“Take me, then.” He purrs. His thumb finds the tip of Shen Wei’s cock, while the other slides down to Shen Wei’s hole. Shen Wei gasps as Yunlan circles the sensitive flesh. “Fuck yourself on me.” There’s a bottle of lube that Yunlan has out on top of his nightstand. Shen Wei’s gaze goes hazy as Yunlan liberally coats his fingers, then pushes one in.

Shen Wei’s hot and tight and Yunlan takes exceeding care to stretch him open. Shen Wei shivering and tensing in slight discomfort as he’s breached. Yunlan drops gentle kisses against his cheek as he does it, slowly adding another finger. And judging by the expressions that ripple across Shen Wei’s face – discomfort mingling with pure ecstasy - and the bruises he’s digging into Yunlan’s shouders with his grip, it’s clear that this is the first time he’s ever done this but Yunlan has to know.

“You never in all those years I was gone-“ He doesn’t finish his question. _Took a lover? Gave yourself to anyone? Trusted someone enough to let them in?_ Shen Wei doesn’t need him to finish. He shakes his head, slowly.

“There was only you.” Shen Wei says, and his voice sounds small and cut-up. Closer to the boy kneeling on the road than to the near-omniscient being that guarded the universe. “No one else.” And Yunlan feels his eyes sting, and he doesn’t try to hide his furious, selfish gladness as Shen Wei buries himself in his arms. Like he’s trying to burrow closer, afraid of being torn away from him again.

“Zhao Yunlan. I need you.” Shen Wei whispers. Still soft, almost frightened. “I need to know this is real, that you’re back, and that I have you again. _Yunlan-“_ Yunlan kisses him, and the fall of words quiets, calms.

“You have me.” He says shakily. He slides his fingers slowly out of Shen Wei’s hole, and then he’s pushing Shen Wei down onto the bed, spreading his pale legs open. Squeezing more lube between his fingers, spreading it on his cock, and Shen Wei cries out as he pushes in. Yunlan burying his face in his shoulder as he sheathes himself completely in Shen Wei. Until there’s nothing separating the two of them but skin. Shen Wei’s eyes are wet. He tilts his hips up, and Yunlan snaps. Pressing Shen Wei down and taking Shen Wei with the impatience of someone who had been holding himself back for years. Shen Wei has been waiting for far, far longer, arching against Yunlan, meeting his every thrust. All heat and delicious friction and as Yunlan clutches at Shen Wei’s hands, Shen Wei tangles their fingers together. Yunlan holdling Shen Wei’s gaze as their orgasm sweeps through them both, and the last he hears before he crumbles is Shen Wei’s hitched sob, breaking on his name.

He comes to, still in Shen Wei. Shen Wei’s legs tighten around him as he tries to pull out. Shaking his head silently as Yunlan gives him a long look, but stays. His limbs going boneless in Shen Wei’s arms as Shen Wei holds him with a desperate child’s strength. Clinging to him while Yunlan rubs his stubbled cheek against his smooth one, and Shen Wei turns, kisses Yunlan. Gentle and chaste, as Yunlan brushes his tears away, holds him tighter.

They lie quietly for several long moments together. It’s Yunlan who breaks the silence.

“Remember when I told you how I wanted you in my bed?” He lets himself sound as smug as he pleases. “Looks like I succeeded.” Shen Wei lets out a soft laugh, but he doesn’t push Yunlan away. If possible, pulling him closer. And the soft sound he makes is almost a whimper as Yunlan slides out, gathers him into his arms.

“I’m still such a kid, in comparison to you.” Yunlan breathes after a moment. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through. For breaking your heart.” He holds onto Shen Wei like he used to when he was a frightened eleven-year old in desperate need of protection, and Shen Wei hides his face into the curve of his neck, sighing. And Yunlan remembers -

_“Is there someone else?” Young Shen Wei had asked, soft and hesitant and barely holding back his tears. All of eighteen years old, and suffering his first heartbreak. “Someone else you already love, where you came from?” And Yunlan’s heart had cracked in two at the pleading expression in the young boy’s face. Holding his heart and his life out for Yunlan to take, Yunlan unable to tell him about who already had his._

_He had held Shen Wei’s hands in his. “Xiao Wei, I’m sorry.” He said, choosing his words carefully. Knowing this rejection will mark Shen Wei for the next ten thousand years. ”I know how much it hurts. And the last thing I ever want to do is to cause you pain.” The boy started to cry, then, and Yunlan folded him into his arms. Wishing the timeline weren’t so fragile, wishing he could make this young Shen Wei promises, wishing he could do so many things –_

_But this boy is the fulcrum on which the universe will hang its balance, and Yunlan cannot risk dislodging it. Yunlan let Shen Wei cry against him, throat aching, knowing he will hate himself forever for every word he’s about to say, but it has to be said._

_“It hurts now.” He stroked Shen Wei’s hair, the movements gentle. “But if you wait, I promise you: there will be someone who will love you just as much as you’ll love him.” Shen Wei looked up at him, his face stained with tears._

_“But I want you.” The whisper had been barely audible. Shen Wei’s dark eyes are huge and hollow with longing. “I can never want anyone else.” And though they were big words for a teenager to say, Yunlan knew the aching truth of how much Shen Wei will still mean it, ten thousand years on. So he did the only thing he could do, and held Shen Wei as he sobbed his young, broken heart out against his chest._

Shen Wei stirs, looks up. His eyes are shining as he wraps his arms around Yunlan’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth.” He whispers. “I didn’t want to force you into loving me, not when I thought you never felt the same way.” Yunlan tucks his hair behind his ear. Kisses his forehead.

“No force in the world could have stopped me from falling in love with you, Xiao Wei. In any timeline.” Yunlan says. ”I only regret I couldn’t tell you, show you sooner.” Shen Wei looks at him, looping his arms tighter around him, and Yunlan’s chest burns.

“Thank you.” Shen Wei whispers. “For coming back.” Yunlan swallows.

“Thank you for always being mine.” He says. Shen Wei’s eyes are all he sees, glittering like stars as Yunlan kisses him and makes him his all over again.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: W.I.T.C.H was my first-ever fandom, my gateway into fanfic. If anyone has read the comic series and picks up on all the Easter eggs, :applause: 
> 
> What I have to blame for this AU, in short order: not one but two other fics that refuse to cooperate, burnout from review courses, the current state of the world in general, family stress, quarantine blues, and my insomnia brain, which helpfully decided to spit out completely unrelated plot while I was tossing and turning in bed a few nights ago, trying to figure out a plothole in the FICS I AM ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING, BRAIN, THANKS A LOT.
> 
> Another cheerful fact, prescinding from the above: this was supposed to be 3k of terribad flirting and innuendoes. And then. All that happened. :helpless shrug:
> 
> Toss a comment to your fanfic writer pls, before she retreats to her review cave.


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